Review: Nothing Phone (3)

I like staring at the Nothing Phone (3). It isn't inherently better than comparably priced smartphones, but it's visually distinct, and let's be honest, a little weird. But weird is good. Phones are fantastic these days, whether you spend $300 or $1,300. When they can all generally do what we expect, aesthetics come to the forefront.

From the red recording light on the back of this $799 Android phone to the quirky pedometer widget that tracks your steps via a stick figure, the Phone (3) feels fresh and unique. That's Nothing's modus operandi. It might not be the most powerful device on the market nor the best smartphone camera around, but I like holding and using it. Every time I flip it over and play with the new Glyph Matrix display, I smirk. There's a dearth of levity and fun in electronics today, and Nothing is here to put us back on the right track.

Grids and Columns

Photograph: Julian Chokkattu

I can't say if Nothing will wait another two years to release the Phone (4), but more companies need to follow suit and move away from the yearly smartphone lifecycle. There's a reduced environmental impact, more time to polish the phone, and a more effective result. The Phone (3) may not feel like a dramatic change from the Phone (2) outside of looks, but it feels more refined, and every aspect has been upgraded, from the cameras and battery to the screen.

The back follows a grid pattern that represents the three printed circuit boards inside. The cameras are partitioned into specific squares, and there are visible screws, circles, and cutouts all around, which add a whimsical feel to a techy product. The star of the show, though, is the Glyph Matrix, a little display composed of large LEDs. It's surprisingly more useful than I expected.

This Glyph Matrix can light up when you receive calls and notifications, like the old Glyph LEDs on prior Nothing phones, but because it's a little display, it's more functional. There are a handful of Glyph “Toys,” as Nothing calls them, that you can cycle through. I like the Spin the Bottle game, rock, paper, scissors, and the Magic 8 Ball, the latter of which is made via Nothing's community, so you can expect to see more fun third-party Toys on the way. Then there are more utility-focused ones, like the sun's position, time, battery meter, stopwatch, and even a level!

Photograph: Julian Chokkattu

I didn't expect to like it as much, but there's also a Toy that shows you a preview of your face on the Matrix, pixelated and all, so that it's easier to frame yourself if you want to use the superior rear cameras for a selfie. It works remarkably well, though I wish there were a filter baked into the phone that replicated the pixelated effect.

All of this is controlled through the circular touch-sensitive button below the Glyph Matrix, which feels intuitive. A short press cycles through the Toys, and a long press activates them (some require another long press). In the Settings menu, you can choose how long these modules stay on and control their brightness. Some of them can always stay on, like the digital clock, which I prefer over a black void. I haven't noticed an adverse effect on battery life.

Another fruitful capability of the circular display is a feature called Essential Notifications. These require a bit of setup, but it's very easy to figure out. Basically, you can choose to be notified about certain notifications from select apps, and you can set a custom display artwork to show on the Glyph Matrix so you can recognize what the notification is about.

I've set messages from my wife via Telegram to come through, and I chose a picture of my dog for the Glyph Matrix, so now when I see a little cute pixelated picture of Tobu, I know my wife has messaged me and I should respond ASAP. Turning the phone screen down automatically enables Do Not Disturb, so getting specific notifications and visually understanding what they are without picking up the device makes the Phone (3) a surprisingly nice tool for anyone trying to get away from distractions.

Inside the Margins

Photograph: Julian Chokkattu

OK, fine. Let's turn the phone around. I still really enjoy Nothing's thoughtfully designed interface—I use widgets here more than on any Android phone—even if there are times when I wish some parts of it were more functional. (You still can't delete an entire page from the home screen or batch-select apps, so I had to select every app icon on the home screen to remove them.)

Speaking of the software, there are a few AI additions in this phone, but the only one worth noting is Essential Search. This is the main search bar when you open the app drawer, and it lets you search for the usual—contacts, apps, and even photos. But it also acts like an AI chat box, where you can ask anything. How far is the moon? How old is Idris Elba? (Important.) It all handily shows up with no need to fuss with a long press or a voice assistant. I quite like this implementation, though, as always, take the answers with a grain of salt.

Performance from the Snapdragon 8s Gen 4 has been flawless, and the 5,150-mAh silicon-carbon battery has cruised through heavy days of use. I got 8 hours of screen-on time on one particularly heavy Instagram Reels-y day, with around 20 percent by bedtime.

The accouterments are all here, from an IP68 water resistance rating to Wi-Fi 7 and eSIM support. It's worth noting that this phone comes with 256 GB of internal storage at a time when most smartphones at this price still start with 128 GB. Qi wireless charging works fine, though I wish Nothing embraced Qi2's magnetic power profile to add fun magnetic accessories like MagSafe on iPhones. I can't fault the company for this omission when there are still hardly any Android phones with the spec. As for updates, Nothing's software policy doesn't match the likes of Google Pixel phones or Samsung devices, but it's close—five Android OS upgrades and 7 years of security updates.

That leaves us with the triple-camera array. After a week of traveling with the Phone (3), I've been quite happy and, at times, even impressed with the results. I don't think this is the best camera system on a phone, but it certainly does a more than satisfactory job. There's strong detail, nice colors, and good exposure, with a decent job of managing high-contrast scenes. It's not so great in low light, where colors can look off and details get muddy. Still, whether it's with the 3x optical camera—its new macro mode—or the ultrawide, you can expect a well-rounded experience.

That sums up the Phone (3) pretty well. It hits the right notes of what you want and expect in a phone, and then goes above and beyond in style and aesthetics. It's finally available in the US without the need for a weird beta program, and it should be compatible with all the major carriers.

You could buy a Samsung Galaxy S25 for the same cash, which sports a much more powerful chip better suited for gamers with specs enthusiasts want, like an LTPO display and USB 3.0. But it won't be as charming as the Nothing Phone (3).